Mustang Daily, October 16, 2000

Student newspaper of California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo, CA.https://digitalcommons.calpoly.edu/studentnewspaper/6638/thumbnail.jp

In-Cylinder Pressure Sensors to combustion control and optimization : a systems and strategy perspective

Thesis (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, System Design and Management Program, 2008.This electronic version was submitted by the student author. The certified thesis is available in the Institute Archives and Special Collections.Includes bibliographical references (leaves 119-124).In-Cylinder Pressure Sensors (ICPS) today are close to satisfying the robustness, performance and cost requirements for application to closed loop control and monitoring of production automotive engines. Using the Robust Design framework as a compass, this thesis first checks the evidence for emergence followed by tracking the evolution of the sensor component itself and its application to robust closed loop control of the combustion process in internal combustion engines. After identifying the potential system level impact of the emerging ICPS technology, System Dynamic and Technology Strategy frameworks are used to find spillover triggers and to recommend a number of strategic options to generate and capture value for integrated system solution providers so that they can beat the very stable status quo that persists in the slow and mature prime mover industries. In addition, Chapter 2 gives a data driven method for identifying the Skills needed for suppliers to realize the above recommendations. This method is based on collective intelligence of 690 experienced professionals with 20 years of work experience on average from 40 targeted companies, representing a large body of engineering and managerial experience in battling complex engineering system hurdles. This approach is more effective than blindly copying the prominent integrated system solution providers or OEM's, because a side effect of long term incremental innovation in the mature prime mover industry is that the underlying reasons for their success is ingrained in their "tacit knowledge" and "organizational furniture" and hence not explicitly understood.by Kamran Eftekhari Shahroudi.S.M

Mathematics Proficiency of Fashion Marketing and Fashion Merchandising Students

Fashion Marketing and Fashion Merchandising (FMM) students should be prepared with a sound mathematics background as they graduate from programs and enter today’s workforce. Unfortunately, future employers within the fashion industry indicate that prospective employees often cannot pass entry level mathematics tests (Shirley & Kohler, 2012). This non-experimental descriptive study examined the mathematics proficiency of postsecondary students entering and completing FMM programs in order to determine if FMM students possess the mathematics skills needed for entry into the workforce. The Mathematics for Industry Test (MIT), a 40-item, timed, paper-and-pencil assessment was administered to 94 entering and 111 completing students enrolled in 13 university-based FMM programs in the East Central Region of the United States. Separate between-group t-tests were conducted to compare overall test scores and four subscales (number and computations, ratio and proportional reasoning, measurement, and statistics and graphing) for entering and completing students. No significant differences were found for post-secondary students entering and completing FMM programs on the overall test or on any of the four subscale scores. Test scores, subscale scores, and distributions of scores for entering and completing students were similarly low, indicating that the majority of FMM students do not possess the mathematics proficiency needed to function effectively in industry as measured by the MIT. While not significant, student performance on the number and computations and statistics and graphing sub-scales were slightly higher than on the ratio and proportional reasoning and measurement sub-scales. This study provides evidence that more work is needed to increase the mathematics proficiency of FMM students to meet workforce demands. Recommendations are made for future research and for possible curricular changes needed to meet industry and workforce demands